IS: Eagle Eye
by Bad Luck Andrew
Summary: Antonio has been proven to be the second male to ever control an I.S. He moves away from his hometown and goes to IS Academy to learn more about his situation along with the first male to control an IS too. As he was forced to go or face brutal consequences, he can only attend hoping that everything goes smoother than before he enrolled. Then again, one can only hope so much. AU.
1. Chapter 1: Rough Start

Trying something new. I enjoyed the anime and my mind wandered with this. Don't ask why Mexico, but it just somehow made sense in my head.

Disclaimer: I do not own IS. But it'd be nice to have one.

* * *

 ** _The cloth had been taken off and revealed what was underneath. Gasps filled the entire room of the hall as the first ever IS system was ever introduced to the public in Mexico. A third-generation Ojo De Águila. It was a gold color with white streaks in the middle._**

 ** _"And there you have it, Mexico's first ever revealed IS system has just been unveiled," a newscaster reported. "There have been reports that it will be shown to the public under extreme security in Mexico City. Tune in next time to see more about this developing story!"_**

 ** _"Ojo De Águila," I said to no one in particular. I'll admit that it looked amazing. With it being a shooting and defense IS, it would suit me pretty good. But only females are able to control IS systems so that rules that out._**

 ** _I change the channel because there's always a corny novella on afterward. I start channel surfing until my brother tugged my sleeve._**

 ** _"Hermano, can we see the IS system? I want to see it with my own eyes!" my little brother Marco asked me._**

 ** _"I don't know, we have to ask Mamá and Papá first," I told him. I knew the answer was going to be no, unfortunately. But I had to ask my mom anyways. I went to the kitchen where she was cooking dinner._**

 ** _"Mamá, can we go see the IS system? It'll be for Marco's 10_** ** _th_** ** _birthday," I pleaded._**

 ** _"Antonio, you know we can't even afford a ticket to go there for one of us. What makes you think we can go with all of us?" my mom retorted._**

 ** _"I have enough saved up to buy two tickets and ride the bus to the city and let us see it. Plus, it is on a Saturday so Marco won't miss any school." I love my brother to death and now I'm glad I've been saving up this entire time from my job at the local grocery store._**

 ** _"You need at least one parent with you. Papá is working his butt off all the time and I still can't afford to take time off. And you're working too. You dropped out after graduating junior high."_**

 ** _"I can take him myself Mamá. I'm already 16 years old and I can watch over him. I still know how to defend myself."_**

 ** _She looked at the ground and placed her hand on her forehead. I'm not entirely sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing._**

 ** _"I have a bad feeling, but I'll consider it…" my mom finally replied after a minute._**

 ** _"Are you serious?" I asked in disbelief._**

 ** _"Don't make me reconsider already," she laughed._**

* * *

"Señor, wake up please," the private flight attendant said for the third time in a row.

"Sorry, señora," I laughed apologetically. "Damn it, this is the third time I've dreamt about that same scene."

"Is everything alright?" she asked.

I forgot she was still even there when I said that.

"Uhh, yeah sorry. I've had the same dream for three days and I want it to change," I tried playing it off. I mean, I wasn't really lying, but she didn't buy it. Although, she just shrugged and informed the rest of the crew.

I honestly hated being escorted by the government because I basically have no freedom to move around or do what I want. It was just awkward too because you have a bunch of people with loaded guns around you ready to fire at anyone in their way.

"By the way, you never told me where we are going," I sighed getting into a minivan.

Once everyone got inside and we started moving, one of the government security guards finally answered me.

"We are in Japan right now," a soft male voice spoke up. I recognized him and his voice after he took his helmet off. He was the only agent that was actually decent to me during my "learning period."

"We are taking you to IS Academy to be trained on how to use an IS. After all, you are the Representative Contender of Mexico alongside being the third male to control an IS system."

The thought of my brother came back into my head but I shook it out and tried finding out more about what was going on.

" _Wait, third?_ " It finally clicked in my head. _"I don't remember there being a third. Maybe they announced one when I was asleep on the plane?"_

I decided to forget about it. I remembered there being another male transferring to this school and decided to focus on the main person at the school.

"So, who is the first male to us an IS system?" I asked.

"His name is Ichika Orimura," the same guard responded. "He is the sister of IS World Champion Chibuyu Orimura. She should also be the teacher of the class you're transferring into."

"Class?" I asked. "But I dropped out of school after junior high."

"This is basically you now going back to school to finish up as a transfer student."

"Quick question. If I, per se, didn't want to go, what would happen?"

"All I'm gonna say is that you either go here and represent Mexico to hopefully get it back to a stable country or get used to catheters and IV drips."

"Ok, that's all I need to know."

I shuddered at the thought that if I didn't go here, I would basically be used as a test subject.

"So… what's your name?" I asked hoping to take my mind off another thing again.

"Roberto Sánchez, nice to meet you, Antonio."

"Nice to meet you too Roberto!"

We kept chatting further and what it's been like the past few weeks until the back doors opened and the other guard ordered me to get off.

"Nice talking to you Roberto. Hope to see you soon." I waved.

Roberto waved back and smiled. I'm pretty sure this is the last time we'll meet. But who knows? Although, the government is trying to prevent another civil war and it's not doing a good job at it. We both know he'll be sent off to fight against the rebels even though I'm sure he doesn't want to do it.

* * *

Eventually, I somehow found myself thinking of my brother again along with my family and tried to look around the school to distract myself.

This place was huge. It took up the majority of the island it was located on. A couple guards, who were extremely strict and not as easygoing as Roberto, took me to my classroom and left me at the door. They said good luck and left. I wasn't sure what to expect.

I opened the door only to see a sea of females and one or two males. One of the males I thought for sure was feminine but who knows. This day has already been weird enough. If I hadn't already been broken, I think I would've probably pissed myself.

"Oh goodness, you're finally here," a green-haired teacher said out loud. "Class, I'm going to introduce you to another transfer student.

"But he's the third one for this class in 4 days!" one of the female students hollered across the class.

 _"Great start,"_ I mentally sighed.

I was expecting the teacher to actually introduce me but after a few awkward seconds, I realized what was going on and made my way to the front of the class. My Japanese was complete shit but thanks to the lessons I was forced to learn, I was able to introduce myself without making a complete fool of myself.

It's hard translating from Japanese to Spanish. At least translating from English to Japanese makes more sense than from Spanish to Japanese. I was bilingual, but I still had trouble.

"Uhh, hello. My name is Antonio Villagoméz and I'm the Representative Contender of Mexico. It's nice to meet you all," I introduced myself. The class kept staring at me like they wanted me to go further on.

"Uhh, I got nothing," I sighed. The class fell from their seats and I knew this was going to be a fan-fucking-tastic day. The only two who didn't were the males I suspected. A guy with black/dark blue hair and the other had long, blond hair in a ponytail.

"Alright class, I need these two rows to move back one. If you're the last in your row, come to the front," the other teacher in the class ordered. I'm not entirely sure what her move is by making the three guys sit in the front but I won't argue.

The blonde guy was sitting to the left of the dark haired guy. Then I was sitting to the right of the same dark-haired guy. I really need to learn their names. Luckily the guy to the left read my mind.

"Hi, V-kun. I can't really pronounce your last name, sorry about that," he spoke to me.

"Uhh, it's okay. What's your name?" I ask. Japanese is still hard.

"Orimura, Ichika. But please just call me Ichika."

"Okay. Then you can call me Tony. Please no honorifics, it's too hard since I'm still learning Japanese."

"That'll do. Just remember to –"

We both got hit in the head with a book by the black haired teacher.

"Talking already in class? You're lucky I don't throw you two out right now," she barked.

"I'm sorry uhh…" I tried apologizing soon remembering I don't know her name.

"Orimura-sensei" she finished my sentence. I'm just glad she didn't bonk my head again with the book she had.

"Thank you," I sighed. I turn to Ichika who watched my ordeal. I tried giving facial cues to tell him to apologize, but he didn't get the message.

"Ahem, Orimura-kun!" the teacher cleared her voice to get Ichika's attention.

"Ahh, sorry Chifuyu-nē," he apologized. Although, he got himself another bonk in the head. I didn't know why though.

"How many times do I have to tell you? It's Orimura-sensei at school!" she yelled at him.

Now I'm glad she let me off the hook and I didn't do anything else to piss her off.

"Sorry Chifuyu-nē," he apologized again before getting a third bonk on the head. She walked to the front to start teaching again while leaving Ichika with smoke coming out of his head where she hit him.

* * *

 _Here's Chapter 1. I still have my writing skills to work on (big time). Hopefully, you enjoyed it._


	2. Chapter 2: First Day Problems

**Hey guys, Happy New Years! Hope 2019 is going well for you. I'm finally ok with this chapter but enough of my bs, I'll let you read.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Infinite Stratos... but it'd be nice to have one.**

* * *

The lunch bell finally rolled around after forever and I was starving.

"Man I'm starving," Ichika yawned while stretching out his arms.

"I hungry too. Say Ich–"

"I can buy you lunch," a girl randomly shouted out and interrupted me.

"No wait, Ichika, I will!"

"No, I'll buy you lunch Ichika!"

Most of the girls literally dragged him out of the room and I was surprised he was still in one piece.

"Is this how it is for him every time?" I asked no one in particular. I sighed and started heading out but before I could leave the classroom, the only other male besides Ichika and I stopped me.

"Excuse me, but what was your name again?" he asked me.

"Just call me Tony, no honorifics. It's much easier for probably both of us." I respond. "What was yours again?"

"Charles Dunois. I'm still getting used to saying my name backward and honorifics too so don't worry."

"I'm glad I'm not the only one," I sigh in relief. "Say, want to get lunch? I was going to ask Ichika but, as you saw, he got carried away by a mob of teenage girls."

"Uh, sure," Charles replied. I noticed he was blushing a little. This is starting to confirm two of my theories about Charles when I first saw him.

"I hope we don't run into the same fate as Ichika," I sigh.

"I hope so too."

We were walking out of the classroom and not even ten seconds later, I hear a large number of footsteps coming from behind us. We turn around and there was an even bigger mob of girls than Ichika's coming for us.

"Speak of the fucking devil," I curse myself for jinxing us. "Run Forest, RUUUNNNN!" I ran as fast as I could sprinting down the halls.

I was glad Charles wasn't left in the dust as we kept outpacing the mob. There was a split in the hallway we were coming upon and we decided to split up hopefully to break the mob.

* * *

"What… the fuck…" I gasped. I've never been through this experience and frankly, I don't want to go through it again.

I ended up losing them, thankfully, and finally went to satisfy my starvation.

Along with my now peaceful stroll of getting lunch, I saw Ichika along with some girls heading to the roof.

"Don't want to disturb them… wait… one, two, THREE?!" I internally screamed. Don't tell me that one of the three males here is a playboy…

"Hey guys, wait up!" I heard Charles in the distance trying to catch up with Ichika. I sighed of relief, dismissed my previous thought and went to get lunch.

I ordered two bowls of Ramen and headed to a single table. I was extremely hungry and anything would help. I slurped up the first few noodles and almost cried. This was the best thing I've had in a few weeks.

I ate the first bowl in 2 minutes despite burning my tongue off but I didn't care. And yes, I did wait the three minutes before chowing down. I was about to eat the second one until I saw someone slumped over a couple tables from me complaining about not being able to get food.

She had her head down and I could hear her stomach grumble from where I was sitting.

"Why the fuck not," I shrugged. I stood up and walked over to the girl. She had silver hair, a more military-style school uniform, and I believe an eyepatch based on the outline from her hair.

"Umm, excuse me," I tried to get her attention. Nothing. I tapped her on the shoulder and got no response. I tapped harder and still nothing.

"Hey, are you alive?" I asked now poking her head. I knew she was but just in case she died of starvation. I quickly knew she was after she grabbed my hand and nearly crushed it with her grip.

"Ow, what are you doing?" I tried to ask without letting anyone know I was in deep pain.

"What do you think you're doing poking me?" she replied with no emotion.

"I saw you weren't able to get food and since I had some extra lunch, I thought you would want some based on what I heard your stomach say."

"How do I know you didn't poison it or anything?" she asked. Her stomach grumbled again.

"You're stomach says 'I don't care.' Do you want the food or not?"

She snatched the Ramen out of my hand and tore into it. The only thing that held her back was how hot the soup was.

I let her be after that, probably because I won't see her again and left to go back to class.

* * *

I barely made it back to class on time again after trying to avoid the onslaught of girls chasing me through the halls again. I was mere seconds from being hit with the clipboard that Chifuyu-sensei has. Jesus, those girls will literally do anything to get a guy. Now I'm starting to understand how Ichika feels.

While sitting down, I notice the girl I gave my lunch to was in my class towards the back. And my suspicion of an eyepatch was also correct.

Chifuyu-sensei started class and started talking about IS shield systems. I knew somewhat about it but not having Ichika here was harder to understand it. Speaking of Ichika, where was he?

"Sorry I'm late, Chifuyu-nē," he apologized only to get whacked in the head with her clipboard multiple times.

 _"Speak of the devil,"_ I thought. Although I do feel bad for Ichika. He's already been through this three times today. It's either the book or clipboard, and I don't like both.

"It's Chifuyu-sensei at school Orimura-kun. Even Antonio knows better and he's only been here for less than a day," she addressed Ichika.

"Wouldn't it be better to use a different example?" he asked while clutching his head.

I would've agreed if not for fear of getting hit by her clipboard. That thing and the book almost gives me PTSD and I haven't even been here a full day.

"Shut up and pay attention!" Chifuyu-sensei ordered. Ichika sat in his seat and paid attention to the lesson all while clutching his head.

* * *

After school finished, I was introduced to my room. I didn't expect much, but it looked nice and neat. Though, I noticed two beds in the room.

"Uhh, excuse me, but what's with the stuff on both the beds?" I asked the female teacher who was showing me my room.

"You have another roommate. They probably took up both as they were living by themselves. They're gone right now but they should be back soon," she told me. "Enjoy your room."

"Thank you!" I said to her. The room was bigger than my old one and it had a lot more storing space.

My roommate had lots of military gear, uniforms, and… knives. She had an entire fucking collection of knives from a small Swiss army pocketknife to a meter-long katana.

 _"Remember to not piss them off in the future Antonio,"_ I sighed in my head.

I put down my stuff to the side of the room to where it wouldn't trip anyone.

I needed to let nature take its course so I went to the bathroom.

I opened the bathroom door but there was only a shower and a sink with a towel rack.

Luckily, I remember Ichika telling me his room number so I decided to go to his room to find out. He usually left it unlocked from what he told me earlier. I opened the door but no one was even there.

"Well shit. What else am I supposed to fucking do," I cursed in Spanish so no one would understand me if they heard from the hall.

I went looking for a teacher to explain this monstrosity to me. I finally found the green-haired teacher from my class earlier.

"Excuse me, Sensei?" I asked. She seemed startled when I spoke but I guess it couldn't be helped since my voice is probably the lowest out of the entire school. "Where are the restrooms in the dorms?"

"Oh, they are all at the end of the halls. Unfortunately, they're all female since this is the first year we've had males."

My soul almost left me when I heard that. "Is there a family restroom or somewhere where I could go?"

"There is a family restroom for visitors and the security guards, but that's back at the main entrance. Sorry, it's either that or the restrooms in the halls."

"Okay, thank you."

I took off for the bathroom at the main entrance. I was not going to lose my dignity on the first day of school even though my body was saying otherwise.

* * *

"You're kidding me that the only restroom available for us is at the front entrance?!" I ranted to Ichika who I happened to see on the way back to the dorms. He told me he was coming back from training with girls who had their own personal IS to get better.

"I know. I wasn't prepared either. Instead, I just pray now that no one is inside," He responded.

I deadpanned at him with a confused yet disgusted look on my face.

"Is something wrong?" he asked me. This guy is a fucking brick.

"Oh, uh, nothing, there was a fly around you."

"Really, where?" he asked while trying to look around for the fly.

 _"This guy is definitely a fucking blockhead,"_ I sighed in my head. "It flew away, but I think we need to get back. The sun is setting already," I told him.

"Okay, let's go."

I made it back to my room to get settled in. I knocked a couple times just in case my roommate was already inside. When I touched the doorknob, I felt something was wrong. I prepared myself and opened the door.

Good thing I had self-defense lessons after I dropped out of school or else I would've been dead. Although, I wasn't sure whether was going to die in a bit seeing as I was barely holding my own from the knife being driven into my chest.

"What's a guy like you doing here in my room?" the girl asked in a monotone voice. She didn't let up even a bit while asking that.

"Uhh, I've been as… assigned to this room," I tried telling her without shaking my voice but I was already failing. It didn't help that it was a girl who was dead set on stabbing me. I finally got a look at the girl's face and it was the one I gave my Ramen to during lunch.

"Aren't you the same girl I gave the Ramen to?" I asked hoping that it would get her to stop trying to stab me.

She let me go and apologized. Then, she took one of the bedsheets and shook everything off. Knives (of course), clothes, and crumbs fell off the sheet and fell in between the beds.

I've dealt with knives in the past, but no encounter was more startling than this seeing all of the knives fall off the bed sheet.

She fixed my bed and it she fixed it similarly to the way Roberto had mine when he was on his shift.

"Here's your bed. Sorry about the mess," she told me still in a monotone voice.

 _"This should be an interesting year," I thought to myself._

"If you even think about doing anything funny, I won't hesitate to stab you, even in your sleep," she threatened me.

So the one girl that I think I've gotten along with already wants to stab me.

"After earlier, I wouldn't doubt it," I sighed.

I started unpacking my stuff as she paid no attention to me and continued cleaning her knives. I wanted to break the ice but she had a dagger that she was cleaning in her hands and I definitely don't want to say something wrong. I finally built enough courage to at least scratch the ice.

"I never really got your name. What is it?" I asked hoping to Jesus I didn't already say something wrong.

She put her dagger down, got up from her bed and stood up full military style. "Laura Bodewig, an elite of the German Army!" she told me. She even saluted while looking proud of the title.

"By the way, thanks for the Ramen," she suddenly said out of nowhere.

"Uhh, yeah, you're welcome."

This could take some time getting used to but I think I could survive. Maybe Laura wasn't this bad after all.

"I think I'll shove this dagger through your throat in a day or two," she announced.

Okay, maybe she was this bad.


	3. Chapter 3: Eventful Day

**Disclaimer: I do not own Infinite Stratos.**

* * *

"Come on everyone, don't let up!" Orimura-sensei instructed everyone.

Being in a rented IS was bad enough. You don't get much training, you share your IS, which is understandable except it's with 4-5 different people, and you only get to watch people with personal IS systems and not actually fight yourself. You have to "learn" from watching them. And even though I have my own IS, it is being used as an attraction to bring in more money for the government so I don't have it at the moment. The worst part is that I didn't even have a say in what to do with it.

My final rotation was done and I decided to go check on Ichika. He was surrounded by 3 girls and the other male Charles. I headed over to him to pass some time.

"Hey Ichika," I waved. Ichika saw and flew to me. The rest of the gang all flew closer following Ichika.

"Are you the new transfer student from Mexico?" a brown-haired female who had a Chinese accent asked me.

"Yeah, what are your guys' names?" I asked them all.

After some time, I finally got their names down. The "one and only" Cecilia Alcott, Houki Shinonono, and Huang Lingyin. Then we have Charles Dunois and the blockhead Ichika Orimura. Can't forget him of course. I starting to wonder if this guy has a harem following him but he's too dense to even suspect a thing.

Of course, though, it's basically a survival of the fittest to even get the three first-year males in the school. Yet, I don't like that I'm being stalked by half the school. I prefer some privacy, but then again I do share a room with Laura so that could be useful…

Ichika and Charles decided to battle afterward to test Ichika's abilities so far. He was holding up his own ground in the beginning but after a couple of minutes, he didn't have a prayer as he got barraged with shots. He managed to land at the terminal with Charles following afterward.

I didn't listen to what they were saying as I was mainly looking to see if the rotation was done and if I had to go back to the lesson. I still had time before I had to go back but everyone suddenly looked towards the arena.

It was Laura standing on the terminal platform with a black IS on.

"Is that a German third-generation?" I heard someone behind me say.

"I don't know much about that IS but isn't it still in the trial period?" Someone else asked.

"What does she even have?" I asked myself. I knew little about the IS and how it worked, more so which brands and where it came from. Luckily, I've been having Ichika help me during class, but it doesn't help too much as he doesn't know much himself either. Although, without him, I would be toast in class.

Laura suddenly shot a beam at Ichika, with Charles barely deflecting it away from him.

"What the hell is she doing?!" I yelled as I ran towards the arena to get a better view.

It turned into a Mexican standoff between Laura and Charles.

"You students over there!" the intercom suddenly boomed. "What do you think you're doing?"

After another intense standoff, Laura retracted her IS and walked away. The rest of the girls and I walked over to Ichika to find out what that was about.

* * *

I didn't get much info out of Ichika. All he responded with was with an "I don't know," but there's definitely more to it. I can tell by the way he's been avoiding the question.

Ichika, Charles, and I headed back to the locker rooms to get changed. It was silent between the three of us. After some time, Charles spoke up.

"I think I'll head back to the room now," Charles told us.

"Okay," I replied.

"Say, Charles, why don't you ever take a shower with us around?" Ichika asked out of the blue. "You too, Tony."

"Well, uh…" Charles hesitated.

"I don't like it because I prefer my own privacy," I spoke for myself and hopefully Charles. "I think Charles is the same way."

Charles sighed of relief and shot me a "thank you" look.

"I don't get it. Why are you two like this?" He asked sternly. Ichika then grabbed each of our arms. It must've been extremely weird for Charles who probably wasn't used to this.

"Don't be like this guys, come on!" Ichika pulled us three together and it was the most awkward moment of my life. At least in gym class when I was still in school in Mexico nothing even close to this happened. Everyone just did their own thing and respected their personal space.

Charles managed to pull away and broke for the exit. Ichika stood there confused while I sighed along with facepalming myself. Ichika was about to go after Charles until I stopped him.

"Ichika, just let it go," I told him while restraining my voice. It was awkward enough with the situation with Ichika being his dense self.

"What for?" he asked.

"You still need to get changed and you don't want another lunch scene happening again."

"Oh yeah, sorry," he apologized.

* * *

The changing room incident was not mentioned again as we walked back to the dorms. I was still wondering what was going on between him and Laura that caused the incident.

"Hey Ichika, you don't have to answer, but why does Laura hate you?" I suddenly asked.

He didn't respond nor look me in the eye. I thought he was gonna pass the question until he spoke up after a few seconds.

"You see, she told me she never accepted me as being Chifuyu's brother. I don't understand why, but she said that when she first slapped me. That happened before you came to this school. But I think it may have to do with an incident," he told me.

"What incident are you talking about?" I asked him.

"Well you see, it –" he started before both of us heard a couple of voices up ahead.

"What's that?" I asked.

"Let's check it out," he responded.

We walked further and saw that Orimura-sensei and Laura were having some sort of argument. We hid behind a tree and eavesdropped in on the conversation.

"Please answer me, Instructor!" Laura begged.

" _Instructor?"_ I thought.

"What are you doing at a place like this?" she continued on.

"I have my own reasons," Orimura-sensei replied. "I have a role to fulfill."

"What **_role_** do you have at a place like this in the Far East? Please, Instructor! Teach us in Germany again! You can't even exert half your ability here at a dump like this."

"Dump?"

"Student here at the academy don't deserve to be taught by someone like you. They mistake the IS for some kind of fashion thing and they lack a sense of danger when it comes to it. It's unbelievable that you even give up some time of your day for students here!" Laura ranted.

"That's enough," Orimura-sensei interrupted her. "From what I can tell, you have definitely grown and gotten stronger since I've last seen you."

" _No wonder why Laura calls her Instructor. Orimura-sensei must've taught her when she was in Germany,"_ I thought.

"I'm in awe that you think that you're the number one IS user in the world especially since you're only 15-years-old," she fired at her. I was in shock that this was even happening.

"I was just…"

"Go back to your dorm because I have a lot of stuff to do. End of discussion," Orimura-sensei ordered her.

Laura stormed off back the dorm as she looked on standing her ground.

"You two over there. Eavesdropping on us?" Orimura-sensei called us out.

I stepped out and bowed. "Sorry Orimura-sensei, we were walking by and…"

"Don't apologize. If you got time to do stupid stuff like eavesdropping on everyone's conversation, you should instead be out there training. At this rate, both of you will be eliminated from the first round of the tournament next month." She interrupted me.

"Tournament?" I asked.

"You weren't here when it was announced. Ichika, you understand, right?"

"Yes, I know," he replied.

"Very good then. Tell him about it," she started walking off.

She took a few steps before Ichika interrupted her stride.

"Wait, please?"

"Hmm?"

"Laura said she doesn't accept me as your brother. Was she talking about you missing your chance to win -"

"Don't worry about it. That's all in the past. There's no need for you to worry about it now."

"But…"

"Later. Go back to your dorm. You too Antonio."

I was stunned at what I just witnessed. It was overloading to me. After taking some time to take everything in, I think I got the gist of what she meant. I remember reading about the story on the internet a few years ago, but I didn't want to bring it up to Ichika at the moment seeing as now wasn't a good time.

Ichika and I walked back to our dorms in silence. We didn't have anything to say after hearing the conversation between Orimura-sensei and Laura go down. He also seemed to have a lot on his mind too.

We just waved each other goodbye and headed down different halls. Seeing as what was going on along with one, my roommate, two, my teacher, and three, my best friend, wasn't helping the situation dial down in my head.

I knocked on the door to let Laura know someone was at the door and I walked in after a couple of seconds. I just heard the shower going. I tried to ignore it for now and settle down, but I thought I heard crying coming from the shower.

After Laura got out, I noticed that she had puffy eyes and the naturally white part of the eye was red.

"We're you crying?" I asked.

"Shampoo got in my eye," was all she responded with her usual monotone voice. I didn't believe her one bit, but after today, I decided to let it go.

Eventually, I got in and turned on the water.

"Come on Laura, you used the last of my shampoo," I groaned. That earned a knife being thrown through the wall where the shower was and almost stabbing my head. Although, I couldn't say the same for the shampoo bottle.

"That was way too close," I sighed. "Looks like I'm buying more later."

I got done with my shower quickly and settled down in my bed. It was only 19:30 (7:30 pm) but I was physically exhausted and Laura was already asleep. Or so I thought.

I was ready to turn off the lights but noticed she was still awake in the reflection from the window. She had her usual serious look on her face, but it wasn't as menacing. She was likely lost in her own thoughts.

I usually did my homework during lunch because it was due after lunch and we don't have a lot of homework at the moment, but I decided to do it now. After a few minutes, Laura was still up, and I decided to break the ice.

"Hey Laura, you're awake. Aren't you?" I asked.

I got no response. Figured.

"Can I ask why you hate Ichika?"

Still nothing. Although I didn't know how it would turn out, I decided to say what was on my mind.

"Do you hate Ichika for stopping Orimura-sensei from becoming a back to back world champion and causing her professional IS career to fall apart?"

Still, no response but I noticed she tensed up. I ended the conversation not wanting to provoke her any more than I already have and continued my homework.

After stumbling my way through the homework, I managed to finish after 21:30 (9:30 pm) and decided to go to bed.

"I'm turning off the lights now. Do you want them on?" I asked. I looked at her reflection in the window and she was still up.

She was still silent as could be. This wasn't like her as she would've already thrown hands or a knife at me. Especially the dagger.

I wasn't the best at helping people emotionally, but I tried when I needed to.

"You know I'm your roommate. We have to get along somehow to survive the year. But if you need to get something off your chest, I'll have open ears and promise not to judge you," I tried reassuring her to at least say something.

After a few seconds of emptiness in the air, Laura finally spoke up.

"I know… thanks," she surprisingly replied. That was a start. It was better than nothing.

"Would there be anything you would want to talk about at the moment or no?" I asked.

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Do I need to get the dagger to rip your vocal cords out?"

"That answers my question."

After a couple of seconds of silence, I rotated in my bed and decided to fall asleep. As I was dozing off, I heard Laura say something.

"I hate the way Instructor is about Ichika," she finally answered.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked half-asleep but wanting to continue the conversation.

"I thought you heard the conversation from earlier, but it's nothing, just go to sleep," she ended.

That was one question partially answered, but I still have more to go to figure that out.

* * *

 ** _Hey guys. I know it's been a while. I'll be honest, I don't really have an excuse other than the usual ones everyone says. I was lazy and had schoolwork to do. Hopefully, when the school year ends I can work on this more as long as I don't forget and I decide to not be lazy._**

 ** _Also, I'm very surprised that I've even gotten this many followers and favorites on a story. Even though it's still single digits, it's actually nice to see a few people enjoying the story even though I don't have much experience._**

 ** _Thank you and have a good rest of your day! ~ Andrew_**


	4. Chapter 4: Blue Days Red Switch

**Disclaimer: I do not own Infinite Stratos.**

* * *

 **(Tony's POV)**

I woke up in a sweat panting harder than the last time I've had my nightmares about the incident before I came here. Could these dreams at the very least calm down the intensity when I wake up? It's already terrifying enough to relive the incident I don't want to remember. Then again, my brain always somehow works against me no matter how hard I try.

After waking up, I noticed that my shirt was sticking to my skin. I might've been sweating a lot or it is extremely humid. It's not the worst thing in the world, but I'd rather not have something like this on when I sleep. Too bad I can't do shit right now.

I take a good look at the alarm clock. It was 4:30 in the morning. My eyes then turned to Laura as she stirred in her sleep. If she woke up, I can be sure to find one of her knives in my head when I wake up in the morning… if I do.

I stayed as still as possible while she moved around. What were only a few seconds felt like minutes of hearing her move around in her bed. Once she was done stirring, Laura looked at peace while she was sleeping. It was kind of adorable seeing her asleep. You'd think she would have the divider up 24/7 with another guy in the room but she was somehow fine without the divider. I'm guessing she trusts me but I'm not going to bother thinking about it.

I looked back at the clock and only a minute passed. I still had a couple of hours before I had to wake up. Not giving a second thought, I lay my head back onto my pillow and give in to the slumber that awaits.

* * *

I woke up again today but this time all groggy and sore. I felt worse than when I woke up a few hours ago. Even if it is just the small drills, using the IS takes a lot out of you. It didn't help I had interrupted sleep throughout the night. I looked at my alarm clock and noticed it had a (literal) sharp accessory to it. Laura must've been pissed at the alarm clock. It was still surprisingly functioning as the minute digits turned.

I double-take though and notice it's almost time for class to begin.

"Puta madre!" I cursed.

I ran to the bathroom to get ready. Just the adrenaline going through my body was enough to make me wake up. By the time I got done, I was pretty sure that this was the fastest I've ever gotten ready. Three minutes is a new record for me since I like to take my time. This was the first time I've overslept in a while.

I ran out of the dorm as fast as I could and bolted for the classroom. I can still make it but I know I'll be facing Orimura-sensei's wrath if I don't keep running. The thought of having to face the wrath of the book or clipboard made me run faster than ever. With Orimura-sensei, it always switches between the two, but at least it isn't "la chancla."

After a few exhausting minutes of running, I see the door and my green-haired teacher opened it up without Chifuyu-sensei. I think her name was Yamada-sensei? I sigh in relief as that meant I wasn't late.

"Holy crap… I made it," I panted.

"You do know class doesn't start until another ten minutes?" she told me.

"Huh?" I gave a dumbfounded look. My clock said 8:55 when I left. It takes five minutes to get to class if I run and ten if I walk regularly. I don't know why the dorms are far from the school.

That's when it hit me that I set the alarm clock 10 minutes ahead right before I went to sleep because I didn't want to be late on my first full day. That's why Laura was pissed. It was because she lost ten minutes of sleep and she won't be happy with me.

"Hijo de puta…" I mumble. "Thanks for the info."

I take my seat and rest my head. I don't need another moment like that.

"Did you know that if you win the Tournament, you get to date Ichika?" I hear someone say in the back of me.

My head turned slowly and a weird, questioning look popped up on my face. I'm pretty sure I heard and interpreted it right.

"Does Ichika know about this?" Cecilia asks the group. I pretend to stretch and lean back in my chair to hear the conversation better.

"No he doesn't but the rest of the school does," a girl responds.

 _"I never knew about this until now…"_ I thought to myself.

"It was supposedly a decision made by all the girls at this school."

The conversation started getting better and juicier until Ichika openly shouted good morning to the entire classroom. Charles sighed as he walked in right behind Ichika. The girls broke up after that and returned to their seats while Rin, who was part of the group, returned to her class.

Ichika and Charles just stared at each other and shrugged. I go back to lay my head down when it got smacked out of nowhere.

"Hey, Tony…" I heard someone say and they were not happy. I thought it was Chifuyu-sensei waking me up but it wasn't her voice. I look up to see Laura and her face says it all.

"Why was the alarm clock set ten minutes ahead…?" she asked with a visibly pissed off face.

 _"Fuck…"_

* * *

Class was a pain in the ass again. Ichika and I were both trying to catch up with the class while Orimura-sensei kept scrutinizing us for not knowing the information. It helps I grew up knowing nothing about the IS. If I had the information that my brother did, then I would be fine, but then again, I'm not my brother.

Charles, Ichika and I decided to go to the arena to train after class ended. We didn't have much time before the tournament and neither Ichika nor I had enough experience under our belts. He was going to train with Charles while I watched and gathered info visually. Man, I wish I had my IS back.

"There's a practice match going on between three representative contenders in the arena right now!" A group of girls shout while running to the arena.

We follow them to the arena and see what's going on. Houki joins us out of nowhere and we stare at what's going on. Rin, Cecilia, and Laura are going at it and by the looks of it, Laura is crushing them both.

"What are they doing?" Ichika asks.

As soon as he says that, Rin blasts a shot and Laura somehow blocks and neutralizes it.

"How did she do that?" Ichika and I shout at the same time.

"A.I.C.," Charles answers.

"I see, she didn't even try to dodge because she's equipped with it," Houki adds on.

"Can someone explain what A.I.C. is?" I ask hoping for some sort of answer.

"Active Inertia Canceller," Houki responds.

I watch on and the same thing repeats. Rin shoots a couple shots and Laura keeps using the A.I.C. to take the shots. I didn't get my full explanation but seeing it in action showed me what it did. Now that I think about it, it's in the name, Intertia Canceller.

"No wonder why they're having a hard time," I say to myself. "It's like a broken Protect from Pokémon."

We watch on and Laura still has the upper hand. After having Rin slam into Cecilia, I thought to myself the fight was pretty much over until Cecilia pulled a close-up missile attack.

"Why would she do that so close?" Ichika asked.

"I don't know, it probably damaged Laura and they managed to get back on their feet, but that was a risky stunt," I answered. I guess my visual learning was somewhat paying off.

After they pulled a risky move like that, Laura decided to fire back and not in a good way. Ichika and I both saw that they were at critical levels and they needed help.

"Stand back, I'm breaking it," Ichika warned us.

"As much as I would love to help them too, you're crazy if you think you can break through this barrier," I told Ichika.

Unsurprisingly, Ichika proved me wrong by breaking through the barrier with Byakushiki in three hits. He then proceeded to move towards the three.

"I guess there's no helping it," I sigh as I see Charles transform and move to help Ichika. Unfortunately, Houki and I couldn't go in to help as we didn't have an IS of our own at the moment. Charles follows along after Ichika inside the arena and it's at this point I realize how bad the situation is.

* * *

 **(Ichika POV)**

I rush Laura with Byakushiki to hopefully pull her away from the two. Unfortunately, Laura fully stopped me without breaking a sweat by using the A.I.C... I guess the good thing was that Cecilia and Rin went back to normal and fell on the ground. Laura then aimed one of her cannons at me and now I'm pretty sure I'm done for. Fortunately, Charles intervened just in time.

"Thanks, Charles," I gave him a thumbs up.

"Not a problem, Ichika," he responded. "Just remember to keep your guard up."

Charles fell back then shot at Laura from a distance while I went to bring the others to safety.

He distracted Laura long enough so I could bring the two girls to a safer location. Unfortunately, Charles got caught in one of Laura's tendrils and had the A.I.C. up and running.

"Charles!" I rush back to help him. Laura used her A.I.C. to stop me. How did that stop a full speed IS?

"You're like the rest of them," Laura smirked. "You are a weakling."

"Huh?!" Confused and offended, I push on trying to break through her A.I.C. even though I know it won't happen. Fortunately, it gave time for Charles to shake free and get back up and running. I fall back joining Charles.

"Are you ok, Charles?" I asked.

"Yeah, but keep focusing," Charles replied. "Laura is really strong."

I get into a battle stance and make a last-ditch effort to ease things out.

"Can't we talk this out, Laura?" I ask already knowing the answer.

"After what all of you just pulled, not a chance," she replied.

While we "initiated" the conversation, Charles pulled back without any of us knowing and shot at Laura. He kept barraging her with bullets but Laura used A.I.C. to stop every single one of them.

I decide to make a risky move and activate Reiraku Byakuya. Charles ran out of bullets and then got attacked by Laura's tendrils. It's now or never. I rush in to hopefully surprise her. Laura didn't miss a beat and saw me coming. She let go of Charles and started coming after me. I was about to swing at her only to have Chifuyu-nē intervene and stop Laura's attack. I stop my attack in time as to not hit either of them.

"Instructor," I heard Laura gasp.

The look on Chifuyu's face said it all. From what I could tell, we were all in deep trouble except for Houki and Tony. Although, knowing Chifuyu, they probably wouldn't be left off the hook.

"I don't care if you all want to have a personal practice match, but destroying the barriers in the arena is something I cannot overlook as a teacher," Chifuyu started. "I don't think you realize how expensive and difficult it is to maintain a single barrier around the arena let alone the entire school. Yes, we do have funds and get funded by the Japanese government, but this is completely unacceptable. Do you all understand?"

All of us agreed just to get it over with.

"Now, as your punishment, all of you shall not fight until the tournament. You can settle your differences there. Do you agree to the terms?"

"Yes," we all agreed.

"You are all dismissed," Chifuyu ordered.

* * *

 **(Tony's POV)**

Ichika, Charles and I met up at the launch gate to talk about what just happened.

"I'm surprised that Chifuyu didn't include Houki and I in the punishment," I told Ichika and Charles.

"I wouldn't hold your breath, Tony," Charles replied.

"You're right. Knowing her, she's going to make it worse for all of us until the tournament."

The three of us then decided to go to the nurse's office to check up on Cecilia and Rin. Ichika knocked on the door and then we all entered.

"How are you guys feeling now?" I ask.

"You guys didn't have to help me then," Rin ranted.

"We would have won if we continued on anyways," Cecilia added on.

"I asked how you were feeling physically, not what were you feeling emotionally," I told them. "Plus, it looked like you were getting beat up pretty bad back there."

The three of us got into an intense staring contest and you could practically see the sparks flying.

"Come on you guys," Ichika sighed.

"Anyways, you two need to stop putting up a front," Charles broke the staring contest while giving Cecilia and Rin tea.

"A front?" Ichika asked.

It took me a couple of seconds, but I finally got what she meant by front. They've been acting extra nice and lovely-dovely with Ichika recently. Everything finally added up. The thing that sucks is that Ichika is a brick so I can only wish them good luck. Then again, it might be a good thing that he is a brick.

Charles whispered something to the two and both of them looked shaken up.

"I… I have n– no clue what you're talking about," Rin stuttered.

"We're not p- putting up a front," Cecilia stuttered too.

"Sure you aren't," I say in a sarcastic voice. A book flew into my face after I said that.

"How the hell can you throw like that while injured?" I complain.

"Don't underestimate a woman and her abilities," Charles laughed nervously. "Anyways, what made you guys want to battle Laura?"

Both of them spit their drinks out and it took a lot in me not to laugh at that sight of that. I guess it was a bit of karma for the book even though I deserved it, but I couldn't help myself.

* * *

After a whole lot of stuttering, covering mouths, and Ichika being his dense self, us three guys were about to leave until an "earthquake" happened.

"What the hell is going on?" I ask.

My question was answered when a group of girls barraged the room.

"Not this again…" I facepalmed myself.

"Ichika! Charles!" they all exclaimed while holding out a piece of paper.

One of the girls gave us their paper as we read it.

The tournament that was next month and we all had to be in pairs. When I read that we were in pairs, I knew it wasn't going to be good, especially with the entire school duking it out just to have a guy fighting on their team.

"Ichika's already paired with Charles," I told everyone. The girls were confused by what I said. I looked at Ichika and Charles to hopefully catch on and play along. Fortunately, Ichika was at least smart enough to take the cue.

"Sorry everyone," he announced. "I'm pairing up with Charles, so I hope you understand." He had his hands clasped together and did a little bow.

Every single one of the girls turned around and left.

"It's better than having him paired up with another girl," I hear one of the girls say as they're all walking out.

"It's kind of cool having two men paired up together at the tournament too," another girl said out loud.

As glad as I was seeing them all leave, it was still a little depressing seeing that none of them wanted me on their team. I understand that both of them have a personal IS and I don't. Or it might be because I'm rooming with Laura. I guess that's why you have to be careful what you wish for. It was a bittersweet moment.

"Thanks for the cover Tony," Ichika sighed of relief.

I return my attention to him and give him a thumbs up while trying to hide my disappointment. In the meantime, Cecilia and Rin weren't happy that I put Charles with Ichika and started voicing their complaints.

"Ichika," Rin started. "Why don't we pair up? We're childhood friends, right?"

"No, wait," Cecilia interjected. "He has to pair up with me because were classmates."

 _"Those reasons have zero logic behind them,"_ I thought to myself.

They kept going on about why they should be teaming up with Ichika instead until Yamada-sensei came in and told them that they couldn't participate.

"Your guys' IS damage comes to over level C," she told the two girls. "You won't be able to fight in the tournament."

They tried saying that they were fine but Yamada-sensei shot them down immediately. I sort of felt bad for them, but there's nothing I could do without getting another book to the face. And the last book hurt. A lot…

"Listen up Ichika," Rin spoke up out of nowhere. "You have to win the tournament no matter what!"

"I want you to give it all you've got for us as well," Cecilia added on.

"Yeah, sure, you can count on me," Ichika said.

 _My mind returned to the conversation with the girls before Ichika walked into the class talking about him. They said whoever won would get to date him, so are they implying he wins so that they still can go for him or are they having my sister's weird fantasies with guys dating guys like Ichika and Charles? Jeez, I'm glad she became an exchange student and went to school in the United States._

* * *

I went back to my dorm as I was exhausted after all that happened today. I needed a nice shower to relax for a bit.

It feels nice having the hot water run down and relax the body. It hasn't been easy these past few weeks and this feels amazing especially all that's happened. I wish they had a bath for the males. That would be amazing especially because there are only three males to share the bath in the entire school.

I got out of the shower and got changed. I still haven't had time to buy more of the shampoo I usually use so I have to get some once I have time. That reminds me, I forgot that I still needed to pay Ichika back for buying me get lunch since my lunch ID wasn't working. I had some change still in my bag from what I was given before I transferred into the school so I figured I could give him that.

Laura still hasn't returned and seeing as what went down, I think she needs time to blow more steam. I figured I would go pay back Ichika now. I got the amount I owe him, along with a souvenir peso and made my way down to his dorm.

I knocked and asked if it was fine to go in and I was given the clear from Charles. Ichika was already asleep in his bed and Charles was sitting on his bed.

"Hey, I just need to pay back Ichika," I told Charles. "I'm just gonna leave him his money on the desk. Can you tell him in the morning because he looks like he's out cold?"

"Yeah not a problem Tony," Charles replied.

I leave the money I owe Ichika on his desk and make my way to the door only for Charles to stop me.

"Hey Tony, can I tell you something?" he asked.

"Sure, what is it?" I replied.

"Could you lock the door to make sure no one walks in?"

"Okay…" I locked the door hoping nothing skeptical was going on. Ichika was in the room with us so it couldn't be anything bad… right?

"I already told Ichika this before I knocked him out," Charles told me.

"Wait, you knocked him out?" I was starting to freak out a bit. I'm not gonna lie.

"I knocked him out for a different reason than what I'm about to tell you."

I sighed of relief there. But what did Ichika do to make Charles knock him out? "So, what is it?"

"Can I trust you not to tell anyone?"

"You have my word."

Charles told me about his backstory. Charles was actually a girl and grew up with her mother. A couple of years ago, her mother died and she had to move with her father. The relationship they had was… distant. Her father was running a failing French IS company and he wasn't taking it too well due to threats from the government shutting down the IS program as France's IS production solely relied on his company.

When they got word that there was a male IS pilot, her father set up the scheme that Charles was the second male to help his company. He put her through extensive training of acting like a male and sent her here to gather information about 3rd generation Infinite Stratos and relay the information back to her father. She scrapped the mission her father put her on thanks to Ichika telling her that he did not have the right to do it and she was free to do what she wanted as long as she was in the academy.

"So it turns out Ichika and I are the only males that can maneuver an IS?" I asked.

"Pretty much as far as I know," she replied.

"Got it. But why trust me with this information?"

"You've gained the trust of Ichika and surprisingly Laura so I figured I could tell you."

"Well, thanks. Who else knows?" I asked.

"Just you and Ichika. I can only imagine what would happen if the girls found out."

"I can say it wouldn't be a very pretty scene for Ichika nor you. Also, since your male name is Charles, would that make your female name…?"

"Charlotte," she finished for me. Charlotte started yawning, signaling my time to leave.

"I think I'll let you sleep. We have a long lecturing tomorrow from Chifuyu-sensei."

"That's true, good night Tony."

"Goodnight."

Well if that wasn't a page out of my sister's textbook. With how Charles' (or Charlotte's) situation unfolded, my sister would have passed out from too much blood loss from nosebleeds.

Ignoring that last thought, I headed back to the dorm. It was already late and I needed to crash.

I knocked hoping Laura didn't have a machete ready to go through me as her way of relieving stress.

"Come in," she said in her usual monotone voice.

She was laying down on her bed staring at the ceiling.

I hopped into my bed and waited a minute before I asked the question in my head.

"Say, why did you do that earlier today?" I ask.

"It's because they're a disgrace to the Infinite Stratos itself," she answered. "I can't stand people like them. Just like Ichika."

"And why can't you stand them?"

"Those fools think that this is some sort of game. They aren't taking this as serious as they should be."

"I mean, I'm pretty sure Ichika and Charles are working their asses off to get better. I can't say the same for Cecilia and Rin, but we're all trying."

"Did you happen to forget you let your country use your IS as an economic gain and you're using a rental? You're already pretty low right there."

"I want to retort that but I can't." I sighed. "I will say though I had no say with my IS being used as an economical gain for my country."

"And how was that not your choice?" Laura asked.

"It's... complicated," I told her. The burning image of my parents screaming at the top of their lungs while being restrained by government officials popped into my head. It wasn't a pleasant sight. It was the last time I saw them too.

"At the very least, you haven't let the IS get to your head, yet…" Laura answered after I went silent.

"Slap me when it does," I told her. "I don't want to be like the whiny baby Cecilia," I laugh a bit. I'm not the biggest fan of Cecilia if you couldn't tell already.

"Tell me about it," Laura responded. We get into an entire conversation about our problems with the Englishwoman. It raised our spirits from everything that's happened today. It was also the most I've seen Laura smile since beating the shit out of Cecilia and Rin.

* * *

 ** _Hey, I finally updated for once. Not as long as last time, but it's here. I finally graduated high school and I'm off to college at the end of August. I've been working at this since I got back from vacation. I haven't had any time to work on this between graduation and vacation time so it's nice to be back with a chapter like this. I like how it is so far. I'm actually almost done with Chapter 5 too. Depending on how much I edit and revise it, it should be up soon. It should be up before I start college. Then it'll be another 6-month wait lol (hopefully not). Take care guys!_**


	5. Chapter 5: Training Begins

**"Wake up dumbass!"**

 _"Please Tony, just five more minutes..."_

 **"You've been out for a long time Andrew. Were you dead?"**

 _"On the inside I was..."_

 **"And when was the last time you updated the story?"**

 _"August?"_

 **"Now, how much stuff have you gotten done since then?"**

 _"Two chapters, many story ideas, and new O.C.s."_

 **"And why didn't you post anything?"**

 _"Didn't feel like it."_

 _ **If that explains something then there you go. I just didn't feel like uploading. Nothing else. I've been revising it for 2-3 months yet I still didn't feel satisfied. I tried rewriting but I came up blank and said screw it and went with editing the original. I know I went on a spree but those are all future ideas and I still need to focus on getting through the beginning to get to what I want to write about. Also, college is a pain in the ass. I'm uploading this instead of doing a History project that's worth a fifth of my entire grade due in less than 24 hours if that says anything. Enjoy!**_

 _ **TL;DR I'm dead on the inside but not actually dead, I didn't feel like uploading the past few months because of motivation and doubt and now I'm uploading instead of doing a project. Enjoy and stick with me until I can figure out my life.**_

* * *

A little less than two weeks before the tournament started, Chifuyu-sensei tells me to meet her at the end of class. I'm pretty sure it's time I finally get my I.S. back. This is very exciting because now I don't have to use the rentals. Seriously, those things suck. I just hope they didn't tinker or do anything stupid with my IS while it was being shown around the country. I'll have to see whether they did with Orimura-sensei though.

Seeing as I'm getting my I.S. back, I tried asking the regular group for some help before the tournament. The three girls, as usual, were too busy swarming Ichika while Charles (or should I say Charlotte) says that he/she is too busy to help while Ichika has girl problems and IS problems. Although, Charlotte did say that if no one else is willing, then I could join them when they all train.

I wanted to sit with them but there was no room at their table. plus, I could feel that Cecilia, Houki, and Rin were staring me down trying to get me to leave.

I just want to hang out with the only other guy in school but I've been denied. I left the table and let the girls have their way with Ichika. It's nice sitting next to him in class because he keeps my sanity in there, but I rarely have time to talk to him after class or even at night because all the girls in the school keep hogging him. Especially the usual three, who take him whenever the rest of the school decides to give him a break.

I went to my last savior knowing that these next couple of weeks were going to be rough as hell. I found Laura sitting face down at a random table during lunch after avoiding the Ichika Mob. I know it wasn't going to be easy getting her on board in the first place, but I had a couple tricks up my sleeve.

"Hey Laura, can I sit here?" I ask.

"I'm too hungry to care…" she groaned.

I started eating and she looked up at my food. I noticed a bit of drool leaking from her mouth and I was starting to feel guilty about bribing her in the state she was now. I mean, I already came this far so I might as well go through with it.

"You know, I can give you something if you want?" I asked.

"Can I have that big bowl of noodles you got me earlier?" she pleaded.

I didn't think I could bribe her so easily.

"Yeah, I can get them… if you're willing to help me train for the tournament that-"

"Just give me the damn noodles already!"

I stood up and speed walked to the line to get Laura her noodles. How hungry is this girl? I know I offered, but if she decides to rely on me for food in the future, my lunch allowance will drain very quickly. The only solution I can think of is cutting some of my portions if it does come to that…

"Sir…"

Wait… why am I overthinking in the first place? Things won't spiral out of control just because I bought her food and have her train me for the tournament…

"Sir…"

If it does, what the hell would happen? I mean, I wouldn't mind Laura if it comes to things like that, but…

"Excuse me, sir? You're holding up the line," the lunch lady brought me back to reality.

"Oh, sorry," I apologized.

I put that previous thought behind me and the lunch lady filled up the bowl with hot water. After the three minutes, I went back to the table, gave Laura her noodles and continued eating my lunch.

I let her finish because she always gets moody when disturbed while eating food. I've given her food other than ramen, but I think I dug my hole when I gave her the ramen bowl when we first met.

"So, now that you're done, do you think you can help me with getting ready for the tournament?" I asked.

"Sure, I got nothing better to do anyway," she answered.

* * *

The school bell rang indicating that class was finally over.

"You are all free to go," Orimura—sensei dismissed us.

Everyone in the class left except for me.

"Excuse me, Orimura-sensei?" I asked.

"Oh, Antonio-kun, are you here to pick up your IS?" she replied.

"Yes, Orimura-sensei."

"I don't have it."

"Wait, what? I thought it was supposed to come in today?"

"The decoy did. I don't know how stupid your country is."

I wanted to retort the last thing she said and say that it was just the government itself that was stupid. I kept my mouth knowing of the clipboard she had in her hand.

"So what's going to happen to my IS?" I asked.

"Originally, it came in yesterday but it turned out to be a fake replica of your IS," Orimura-sensei told me. "Because it was an issue involving the IS, it immediately went to the International Court of Justice in the Netherlands. They set aside all court cases involving them right now to deal with your issue because it is I.S. related. The investigation pursued and they were found guilty of breaking the Alaska Treaty. I expect you to know what that is."

"It's one of the few things I know about the IS. History was one of my favorite subjects in school and I liked learning about the Alaska Treaty in particular."

"A simple yes would've been fine but I'm glad to see you're retaining some things," Orimura-sensei gave a little smile. "As I was saying, they were found breaking Article II of the Alaska Treaty. They never disclosed that they were experimenting on your IS nor released information about their experiments. So they are now forced to pay a couple billion in fines, release any documentation they have, and return your IS."

"Is that all?"

"I believe so. Were you expecting to hear more?"

"Not really, but all of this went down in the span of the fake IS arriving here and today?"

"Yep, the verdict was announced this morning at seven before school started. I got the word about it but we haven't told the school yet."

"So what's going to happen with my IS?"

"The United Nations has sent an IS to deliver your IS. It should arrive tomorrow."

"Okay. Thank you for the information."

I walked out of the classroom taking in what just happened. Although, there are two burning topics in my head.

First of all, they told me it was just for marketing reason and if I complied, they would keep their end of the bargain and return the IS.

Second, is my family okay? I've been complying this entire time to keep them safe and what they just pulled worries me. I know the country is about to go into a Civil war, but it was only going to be used as propaganda to not mess with the government. It didn't help now that Mexico has to pay billions of what they don't have. It's going to be a mess over there.

If I had the choice, I would've rather continued school and transferred with my sister in the United States. Instead, I'm stuck in a losing battle right now with my own country.

* * *

Tomorrow arrived and I finally able to get my actual IS. Orimura-sensei confirmed that it was the actual IS and I could start training after school as long as nothing gets out of control.

The first thing was getting through IS training during the school day.

"Antonio-kun, activate your IS and show these rookies how it's done," Orimura-sensei ordered.

I don't remember how I used this thing last time. My footing slipped, I caught myself on the IS, it glowed, and I was suddenly using it. I remember doing stuff with it afterward, but I don't remember what. From what I've been hearing too, using a rental is completely different from using a personal IS.

To test that theory, I tried activating it as you do with the rental IS.

Nothing.

"Ay Dios mío…" I froze.

"What's the hold-up?" Orimura-sensei yelled.

"It ain't starting up."

"This right here students is why you always pay attention in class."

That was an indirect kick to the gut. I fell asleep in class and the topic was related to what I'm doing now. I was supposed to learn about it from Laura yesterday but it wasn't my fault that the IS was a fake. Laura chewed me out all night for wasting her time. That was the longest 2 hours of my life.

"I'm sorry I slept during class, but how am I able to turn this thing on?"

"You would know if you didn't sleep during class."

"GOD DAMN IT!" I yelled while slamming my fists onto the machine. I got fed up with Chifuyu's games but I accidentally let it out.

Somehow, after that fit of rage, I transported into the IS and it turned on! I don't know what caused it to, but it did. I think I couldn't have been happier all day than that moment.

Now having the time to finally get a good look at my IS, I took advantage of it. The first thing I noticed was that the colors look much better upfront than on T.V. with the gold with white streaks having a good contrast against each other. Its beautiful white wings were shaped like an eagle's wings, as it's in the name.

"For those of you that weren't paying attention, that is one of the ways to start up your personal I.S., emotion. It can't just be that you feel happy or sad. You have to be passionate," Orimura-sensei told the class and aimed her sentence directly towards me. I sighed and moved on.

"Now how do I move this dang thing?" I asked to no one in particular.

"The setting should pop up. Adjust them and then get moving!"

The loading circle just kept going. And I thought my old phone back home was slow.

"Please choose the language," a voice said out of nowhere.

I look back at the holographic screen that popped up out of nowhere. I looked for the Spanish setting and finally found it after 15 seconds of searching. How many freaking languages do they have installed on these things?

The rest after that was easy to do. It took about a minute to get through all the setting features, and then it asked one final question: what form do I want it in while inactive? I decided to make my parents happy for once and chose a necklace with a cross. Now, I was ready to start training.

"Can you move around?" Orimura-sensei asked.

I tried remembering my movements from when I first activated my IS. Left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot.

 _"Hey, it feels more like an extension to my body rather than moving a machine like in the movies,"_ I thought to myself. It felt much better than using the rental IS.

"I'll let you figure it out on your own," Orimura-sensei told me. "Alright everyone, back to what we were working on!"

It felt nice having my own IS instead of using the rental IS. It was less limiting than the rental and a lot more options to use. Because Orimura-sensei was busy, I was either gonna have to learn by myself or have someone else teach me.

Moving around was getting easy. I had control while walking, running, and doing random exercises to test my IS. So mobility on the ground is a good start. Up next is flying. I remember Orimura-sensei saying something about you needing to do something to start flying before your IS will do it for you. Problem is, I have no idea what the hell that thing is or what she meant by that.

"What the hell are we gonna do now?" I started brainstorming ideas to try. The first one I got was to explore the features that the IS has programmed in it. I went searching on how to fly but I got sidetracked after a couple of searches. I think I might've stood there for ten minutes looking like an idiot, but I got so much more information out of those ten minutes than the entire time I've been at this school.

My IS has three special abilities, night vision, 360 vision, and increased descent speeds. Then there are the two weapons that came equipped with my IS. A sword called "La Garra" and a sniper rifle called "La Chancla." I couldn't get over the name of my sniper rifle. The amount of irony in that name was ridiculous. If only it shot out sandals. This would be Mamá's favorite weapon if she liked guns.

There was also a slot that had a "?" in it. I didn't know what that even was nor could I access it. I'll have to ask someone to help me figure that out.

"Let's try this first to see if it does what it says." I tested out the 360 vision and it worked. I still couldn't see all around me with my own eyes, but the IS allowed me to see in the back of my head. It was more so having Dragon Ball Scouters to help me see but I wasn't complaining.

Next was to test out my flying skills. I bent my knees forward and my IS did the same. Next came the jump and I felt myself in the air. Did I do it first try? Was it that easy all along?

Thud.

I landed back on the ground without even staying still in the air after my peak. I tried it again but putting more effort into my jump.

Thud.

One more time. This time I'll keep exerting force after my jump and maybe it'll work.

Thud.

"Mierda!" I groaned in frustration. This was getting ridiculous. I had height and everything but I couldn't fly. Everyone else could do it by a simple jump. Ichika, Charlotte, Laura, Cecilia, and Rin. I must look like an idiot right now to everyone else.

"You look like an idiot Antonio-kun," Orimura-sensei called me out.

"Tell me something I don't know," I responded to her frustrated.

"You're a bird. You have wings, don't you?"

"What the hell do my wings have to…," I stopped myself. "Oh."

I got a running start going in a circle around the arena, which I had to myself since I was the only personal IS user at was allowed to train at the moment, and jumped. This time, I got myself into a Superman position and hoped my wings would take care or else I was going to eat dirt.

Thank goodness I didn't. I was gliding around the arena.

"I… I can fly…" I was shocked. "I can cross something off my bucket list!"

I started making turns around the arena. It was easier than I thought. I just had to tilt my body and shift my weight. I took a minute to get used to, but after that, I was making sharp turns on the fly. The true test now was going upward. I had trust that my IS could do it. As I tilted my body upwards, I felt something shift in the back of me. Was it my wings? Probably, as now I was flying upward. I wonder whether my wings shifted to help me go the direction I wanted to go in. I was pretty high up already, so I needed to get down before Orimura-sensei starts yelling at me. I tilted downwards and I flew back down.

The only problem, you didn't ask? Now, I was going much faster than when I made my turns and flying upward.

"Wow Antonio-kun, I don't think I've seen anyone more excited to eat dirt than you were," Orimura-sensei taunted me. She was standing over me in the arena. When did she even get down here?

"What gave you that impression?" I asked.

"You faster going down than your top speed while you were flying around."

I looked into the system to check what caused that.

 _An eagle's top speed diving is usually two to three times faster than its regular top speed flying. Similar rules apply to the IS as to give your prey the element of surprise. Your IS can reach speeds 3x faster diving than flying any other direction._

That's pretty neat.

"I can't read your language Antonio-kun, but I'm going to assume it said something similar to what I said earlier?"

"Yes, Orimura-sensei."

The bell rang signaling that class was over and it was now time to get changed.

"Pick yourself up," Orimura-sensei told me. "Get your I.S. washed off and get ready for more training."

"Thank you Orimura-sensei," I bowed. Ichika has been rubbing off on me as I wanted to say Chifuyu instead.

"I look forward to seeing you improve." She gave a little smile and left.

I returned to the launch zone and got out of my IS. I did wash and clean it as Orimura-sensei told me to.

"Why are you washing that now when you have more training to do?" a voice said behind me. I turned around and it was Laura.

"You couldn't have told me that before I started washing the damn thing?!"

* * *

 _ **So I'll try to stay up to date on this as long as college and my motivation doesn't kill me first. Thank you guys for sticking with the story. Over 1200 views, 16 followers and 14 favorites? Even though it may not seem that big, this actually means a lot to me. I was going to stop after 2 chapters but someone told me to keep going with the story and I did (eventually). I'll try to stick through with this even with all the crap that's been going on. Enough rambling, thank you for reading and have a great day! ~ Andrew**_


	6. Chapter 6: Tournament Time

**What? I uploaded the story now instead a few months later? Surprise! Enjoy the story.**

* * *

 **(1 day before tournament)**

"I can finally relax," I sigh in relief. I flop onto my bed not even bothering to get out of my school clothes. All I wanted was to take a nap. Training every day with Laura and Chifuyu along with the intense schoolwork has taken a toll. On top of that, Ichika got me into the habit of saying Chifuyu instead of Orimura-sensei. It's been adding to the stress as I keep getting stared down for almost saying her first name. There have been too many close calls within this past week alone.

It's a good thing today we have the day off from training as the tournament is tomorrow. I wouldn't mind training right now, but my body is telling me otherwise. I think I fell asleep for about five minutes before someone opened the door.

"You still have work to do," Laura told me as she entered.

"Can we not train today, Laura?" I bargained.

"The tournament starts tomorrow. Did you forget?"

"No, I didn't. I just want to relax for tomorrow." I was already sore and aching from the previous training sessions. As I tried to go back to sleep, a shiver went up my spine when I felt a menacing gaze on me. I looked at Laura and it was radiating off her.

"I suppose last-minute training wouldn't hurt," I gave in.

We make our way to the arena. Chifuyu permitted us to use it as long as I wasn't sparring with anyone else in an I.S.

As intense as Laura's training sessions are, she is a good trainer. Then again, she did work with Chifuyu in Germany so she might have used her previous lessons to teach me. The downfall of training with Laura was having to buy her lunch. It's considered payment for teaching me about the I.S.

The main difference between Chifuyu and Laura's teaching was Laura taught more straightforward and direct while Chifuyu played mind games until you got it. I hate to admit it, but I'm an idiot when it comes to decoding her mind games. It's probably why I prefer Laura as a trainer over Chifuyu.

The good thing was I learned how to fight with my weapons. I wasn't great with "La Garra" in the beginning as it was the first time I've ever held a sword. It's still tough in a one on one; however, I'm able to hold my own in a sword fight. "La Chancla," however, was much better. I could hit targets from mostly anywhere. Not perfectly in the bullseye, but I had good accuracy. Thank you Papá for teaching me how to shoot.

We arrive at the arena and I get ready waiting for orders from Laura. Thanks to Yamada-sensei, we had an earpiece to hear each other.

"I'm ready to go now," I told Laura.

"First, I want to ask something?" Laura spoke over the earpiece.

"Shoot."

"Have you been using your wings?"

"What exactly do you mean by that?"

"Try to move your wings yourself."

How was I supposed to do that? Meh, trial and error will do. Out of spite, I pretending that they were attached to my back and started "flapping" my wings. I started flying up which caught me off guard. I didn't think it would work.

"Hey, it worked!" I exclaimed.

"Now try what we've been failing at for the past two days," Laura took a light jab at me.

I flew up and prepared to freefall. Remembering my speed increases when diving down was something I would have to anticipate. I dove down and waited to lift. Right before hitting the ground, I shifted the wings on my own to not crash. I thought I did it a bit too late as I skidding across the ground but I flew back up.

"Good job, you didn't crash this time," Laura complimented me.

"Thanks," I smiled. This felt great. I'm going to have to learn to fly again now that I'm using my wings and not just gliding anymore. But if I can get it down before tomorrow, things will shift in our favor.

"Now do it a thousand more times," Laura declared.

"You're kidding…" I sighed in defeat.

"No, I'm not. Now get to it."

* * *

"Ow ow OW OWW!" I yelled in pain. "That hurts you know."

"What did I tell you two about staying past curfew?!" Chifuyu tore into us. "You're lucky I'm not kicking you both out of the tournament tomorrow."

Chifuyu dragged me and Laura by our ears to our dorm. Laura was casually getting dragged back while my ear felt like it was getting torn off my head. It wouldn't have been that bad if it weren't for the fact she dragged us from the arena.

"I know and we're sorry," I apologized for the both of us. "But could you stop dragging us by the ear to our dorm?!"

"Wish granted," Chifuyu replied. With the power of timing on her side, she let us go in front of our dorm room.

We walked into our dorm and I got ready for bed massaging my ear the entire time. I don't think I'll be sleeping on my left side tonight.

The adrenaline started wearing off and I felt everything. I flopped onto my bed dozing off but not before noticing that the room was empty except for me. Wherever Laura was right now didn't matter to me. I just wanted to sleep, wake up feeling good to go and win that damn tournament.

* * *

 **"Hermano, are we there yet?" my little brother Marco asked me.**

 **"No, we still have another 10 minutes until the station," I replied.**

 **It was thrilling that we were finally able to convince Mamá and Papá to let us go see the new I.S. Nobody told me it would be exciting for me too, but here I am almost as giddy as Marco. I looked out the window and saw the scenery outside. The greenery next to the road did not last past 10 meters. After the trees, it was a bit of a dusty wasteland before it returned to green and trees out near the mountains.  
**

 **"Gracias por tu paciencia." The P.A. system activated on the bus. The driver had a deep voice with a heavy City accent. "Llegaremos en la Ciudad de México en cinco minutos."**

 **"Did you hear that?" my little brother squealed.**

 **"Yes I did, but don't get too jumpy now," I told him. "We still have ways to go."**

 **We got to the bus station and changed buses. It was 11:00 in the morning and we were only here until 18:00 (6:00) PM. We were gonna have to make the most of the short trip, but it would be worth it for my little brother's birthday present. He was so ecstatic that he would see his first IS with his own eyes.**

 **We passed time on the second bus by playing card games. Uno and Goldfish were all that we could play before arriving on our destination as we didn't know any other games to play.**

 **"You have any 9s?"**

 **"Goldfish."**

 **It was a stalemate where all the cards we need are still under the freaking pile.**

 **"Bienvenidos," the bus driver announced over the P.A. system. We were finally here and I could stop answering Marco's question of whether we've arrived yet. We put our cards away and got off the bus.**

 **We took in a deep breath to smell the air around us.**

 ** _"*cough* *cough*_ It smells like ass right here," I gagged. Marco was gagging as well.**

 **It smelled like the sewers here. It was probably the area where we were and they were having sewage problems but my God was it powerful. The brighter side was the area was aesthetically beautiful. The old buildings surrounding us looked like they belonged in a museum. Old brick houses filled up the block and it looked like the early 1900s. To not waste time, we started walking to our destination.**

 **It took nearly 45 minutes to get there but at least the walk was over. I had bought tickets in advance so** **we could skip the ticket counter. Now, we wait to enter the convention center. The line was long so we were waiting for a good amount of time until they allowed us to enter the damn building.**

 **Once we entered, all I could think of was how metallic the place smelled. It tasted like metal in my mouth from all the I.S. gadgets and pieces that were in the building. I'm so glad I'm never going to another I.S. convention again for the next year or so. Knowing my luck, something will happen to make sure I smell it again soon.**

 **I let my brother look around and fanboy over the amount of I.S. information and mini-gadgets there. There was a history section of the I.S. and I went over to check it out. The main attractions were how the I.S. came to be from Tabane Shinonono showing the world of her invention, the progression of the I.S., and the introduction of the Alaska Treaty in a big banner hanging across the section.**

 **I read the banner and chuckled a bit.**

 **"They were desperate when they made the introduction," I said out loud.**

 **I look around and saw no sign of Marco. God, I hope he doesn't get into trouble again or it's going to be a very long night when we get back. I return to where I last saw Marco and looked at all the possible places he could've gone to. I wish he hadn't worn a regular tee because it would've made things much easier. I looked around at places he might've explored hoping I had some luck, which, to no surprise, I didn't. If I was going to find him, I was going to have to think like him.**

 **" _If I were Marco, where would I want to go?"_ I thought in my head. That's when it clicked. I should've thought about that in the first place because it was what he wanted to see all along, the Infinite Stratos. **

**From what I remember, it was going to be backstage until the grand revealing at 13:00 (1:00 PM). Knowing him, he is definitely backstage right now.**

 **I make my way over to the backstage entrance and I see Marco slip by the guards and secretly go through the door. Now, this was going to be a pain in the ass.**

 **I had two options: sneak in or ask the guard to look for my brother.**

 **Another kid ran by and tried opening the door but got caught by the guard. The guard scolded his mother to the point of her bawling her eyes out. Yeah, I'm not dealing with that. I'm just going to sneak in.**

* * *

"Hey Antonio, are you alright?" Charlotte appeared in front of my face.

"Huh?" I jumped up startled. Looks like I passed out on the bench after I got changed. Last night was rough as I had broken sleep throughout the night. The crazy thing was this was the first time since arriving in Japan the flashback dreams have gotten as far as they did. Damn, how long was I knocked out for?

"Yeah, just didn't sleep well last night," I yawned and stretched my arms. Charlotte nodded and we both heard Ichika's outburst from where the TVs were.

"Wow, this is quite something," Ichika said out loud.

Charlotte and I walked over to where he was. He was looking at the T.V. screen and I could see why he was saying that. There were all the bigshot recruiters in the I.S. industry sitting in the balcony waiting for the tournament to start.

"There are recruiters for the seniors as well as the sophomores," Charlotte stated. "People come to check the results of their training."

"I take my hat off to them," Ichika replied.

"It amazes me that there are all these big names and you two don't seem fazed by them being here," I told them. Marco loved talking about some of these people. Now that I'm here within their vicinity, it is weird being next to the people he admired and talked about so much, not to mention nerve-wracking.

Ichika's mind seemed fixed on something. Knowing what happened in the past, it was probably about the future match between him and Laura. I'm sure he's still sore over the last battle they had. I mean, she did seem like she was trying to kill everyone in the arena so I can't hold that against him.

"It seems all you care about is the match against Miss Bodewig, huh Ichika?" Charlotte broke the ice.

"Yeah, you could say that," Ichika replied. "Say, Tony, aren't you paired up with Laura?"

"Yeah," I answered. "Even though you want to fight Laura, don't forget I'm part of her team."

"I look forward to our match against each other," Ichika smiled.

This was going to be a tough tournament. I just started and it's also Laura's nature to go solo and not have anyone help her. After living with her in the dorms, I've come to see what she was like. She is not a bad person, but she's… stubborn to work with. She was willing to work with me these past few weeks so I'm hoping things work out for the better.

"Remember guys," Charlotte spoke up. "Try not to get emotional when you're fighting. Ichika, I'm almost certain Laura's the most powerful person in our freshman class right now."

Ichika and I nod our heads in agreement and wait for the T.V. screens to show who's fighting who. We talked a little more about how the tournament might go until we heard the announcement for the bracket.

The screens popped up and showed the bracket.

 **Round 1:**

 **Match 1 – Orimura/Dunois vs. Swift/Mays**

 **Match 2 –** **Watanabe/Tanaka vs. Sanders/McDonald**

 **Match 3 –** **Shinonono/Yamamoto vs. King/Swanson**

 **Match 4 – Carmichael/Romano vs. Bodewig/Villagoméz**

 **Round 2:**

 **Match 5 – Winner of Match 1 vs. Winner of Match 2**

 **Match 6 – Winner of Match 3 vs. Winner of Match 4**

 **Round 3:**

 **Match 7 – Winner of Match 5 vs. Winner of Match 6**

 **Champion: Winner of Match 7**

It was dead silent in the room as the three of us were fixated on the screen. First, a snicker popped up out of nowhere, then held-back giggling, and finally evolved into full-on laughter. Ichika and Charlotte were surprised as I started laughing out of nowhere.

"Why are you laughing?" Ichika asked.

"Yeah," Charlotte agreed. "Shouldn't you be getting mentally prepared for the tournament?"

"Everything's fine," I told them. "Just thought of something."

"What is it?" Ichika asked.

"Something related to back home." I technically wasn't lying. I was laughing at one of the pair's names, Sanders and McDonald. The irony in that duo's names is amazing. KFC and McDonalds were huge jokes in my old school which made me laugh even more.

The T.V. then told for Match 1 students to head to the arena. Everyone else who was participating had to wait in the locker rooms while the matches went on. Seeing as Ichika and Charlotte were heading out, I wished them the best of luck and watched the T.V.

Orimura-sensei came in as soon as they exited the locker room with a cell phone in her hand.

"Antonio-kun, this is for you," she gave me the cell phone in her hand. "Give it back when you're done."

"Yes, Orimura-sensei," I responded.

Who the hell would want to call me? I only kept in touch with a couple of my friends from middle school and I don't think my parents can talk to me right now.

"Hello?" I faked a cheery tone. I wanted to get the call over with.

 _"T.J.!"_ the phone screamed at me. I'm pretty sure I went a bit deaf in my right ear. Now both of my ears are in pain. One from Chifuyu dragging my ear yesterday and the phone blowing out the other.

"Ay Dios mío, Carolina," I sighed in frustration. "You don't have to scream into the phone every time we talk."

 _"Aww, you're no fun,"_ Carolina pouted. _"Stop being a party pooper."_

I wasn't dealing with my annoying sister right now. It was the worst time for her to call.

"What did you even call me for?"

 _"I wanted to tell you that I'm watching the I.S. tournament right now and I saw your name in there. Why did you never tell me you were piloting an I.S.? We could have been I.S. buddies."_

"Because I can't."

 _"Why not?"_

"Ugh, don't you have to be stupid somewhere else?"

 _"Not until four."_

Right now was not the time to be dealing with her antics. Maybe another day, but not today.

"Did you call me just to say hi?"

 _"Well yes, but I also have some good news."_

"If this is coming from you, I don't like where this is going."

 _"Don't be like that T.J. After I'm done with I.S. training in the United States, I'm coming over to your school! Aren't you happy T.J.?"_

"You could say that." I think it was obvious to anyone what I said wasn't true to what I was feeling.

"Anyways, I have to get ready for my match," I told her just to get her off the phone.

 _"But you're the last match, don't you have more time to talk to me?"_ Carolina whined _._ I just wanted out of this phone call.

"We're all required to get ready before our matches so we can go straight in. I was allowed to stay behind because I'm talking to you. Unfortunately, I'm getting eyed at so I have to get going. Bye Carolina."

 _"Bye T.J., but wait you still never answered my question about-"_

 _* click*_

No way in hell I'm answering that question. I'd rather not think about that ordeal again right now.

On the T.V., Ichika and Charlotte won with ease from the replay and are moving on. I got up from the bench and walked out of the locker room. They did their part, and now it's my turn. When the time comes, I'm going to show the world that I'm here and live the dream my brother always wanted.

* * *

 _ **Here you go. Rewrote it and it looks better than the first couple of drafts. Thank you for your support in this story even though I haven't been the best at keeping up to date with it. Here's to finishing the story and hopefully having a somewhat successful upload/work schedule in the future. Also, the tournament will start the next chapter, I promise.**_

 _ **Thank you! ~ Andrew**_


End file.
